Tesco grant brings fun days to Arabic Saturday School in Lurgan

The Saturday School takes place at the Emmanuel Church and is promoted by NI Hyatt, a social enterprise focused on supporting vulnerable members of the refugee and migrant communities within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council. In Arabic, “Hyatt” means “life”.

Every Saturday morning, the team of volunteers teaches kids to write, read and speak Arabic, and share Arabic-speaking countries’ traditions, music and culture. Most children are the first generation born in Northern Ireland of families that came to the province as part of the Refugee Resettlement Program - UK Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) Scheme.

Even though their parents speak Arabic, the children communicate mostly in English. The classes are also attended by students from other countries, including Poland, Egypt, Russia, and even local people from Lurgan.

NI Hyatt was formed six years ago and most of its core funding currently comes from the National Lottery Community Fund. To provide greater support for students and help pay for the venue, refreshments at break time and the volunteers' travel expenses, NI Hyatt applied to Tesco’s Stronger Starts scheme, which awards funds to charities and community organisations that make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people.  

“These kids work hard at school every day and then attend Arabic classes on Saturday, so they more than deserve some fun days out,” explained Hassan Al Khawam, Volunteer Director at NI Hyatt. “The grant from Tesco is also being used to finance activities like trips to the American Folk Art Museum, trampoline park Airtastic and their end-of-term celebration.”

NI Hyatt also offers other services, including bilingual advice and signposting clinics, culture and sports-related activities. “The group helps refugees with developing social connections, finding learning opportunities and gaining skills to allow them to better integrate within the local community,” said Ligia Parizzi, Volunteer Director at NI Hyatt.

The Stronger Starts scheme, in partnership with the Groundwork charity, aims to support many Northern Ireland community projects and good causes in the coming years, with thousands of pounds to give away.   

Tony McElroy, head of communications for NI at Tesco, said: “We’re delighted that we can help programs like the Al Taaleem Arabic language and cultural school programme. Stronger Starts invites our customers to use their blue tokens to vote for local schemes they feel will benefit children and young people, and it’s so good to see the impact that the funding makes.”   

Co. Armagh shoppers can support their local school and children’s groups by dropping the Tesco blue token they receive at checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store.   

For further information please go to https://tescostrongerstarts.org.uk